Dameworth Strikes Again in State Meet

Bryan Dameworth of Agoura High was aware that many people considered his victory in last year’s State Division I cross-country championships to be a fluke.

In fact, Dameworth surprised even himself when he pulled away from Goshu Tadese of San Diego Crawford and David Scudamore of Palos Verdes in the last 400 meters of that race.

“I didn’t really expect to win it last year,” Dameworth said. “I was looking ahead to the Kinney West regionals so I was surprised when I did that well.”

Fast forward to last Saturday’s state meet. Dameworth was on a mission to validate his title.

“I wanted to clear up the matter,” he said. “I wanted to prove to people that last year wasn’t just a lucky race.”

Dameworth did just that in a decisive manner, defending his state Division I title at Fresno’s Woodward Park by holding off Mike Williamson of Thousand Oaks and Jimmy Rodriguez of Santa Ana Valley in the final 500 meters.

Dameworth’s time of 15 minutes, 3 seconds was a personal best over the 5,000-meter course and 9 seconds faster than he ran in the 1987 state meet.

A notorious front-runner, Dameworth ran in the pack for much of the race.

He was third after a mile (4:41) and was tied for second after 2 miles (9:43) before joining Williamson and Rodriguez at the front of the pack with 800 meters remaining.

Then, just as he had last year, Dameworth opened a small lead with 500 meters remaining and maintained it to the finish.

“The race went pretty much as we hoped it would,” said Agoura Coach Bill Duley, who also is Dameworth’s stepfather. “I told Bryan to let them do all the early work, to sit back for the first two miles and then pick up the pace.”

Though Dameworth is not known for a blazing finish in slower, tactical races, he is quickly establishing a reputation as a fierce kicker off a hard, fast pace.

Though lacking the top speed of some rivals, Dameworth’s strength allows him to hold his finishing speed over a longer distance.

“I felt really smooth in the stretch,” Dameworth said. “I was pretty confident with a half-mile to go. And then I just concentrated on holding them off in the final stretch once I had the lead.”

With his second state title firmly in hand, Dameworth’s next challenge will be the Kinney West regional cross-country championships Saturday at Woodward Park.

As a freshman, Dameworth finished a surprising eighth in the regionals and 19th at the nationals, but last year he lost a shoe at the start of the regional meet and fell later in the race before dropping out in frustration at the 2-mile mark.

“Last year was just one of those races,” Dameworth said. “I really wanted to qualify for nationals all four years, but I can’t do that now. . . . I’m more concerned with just getting there (nationals) this year. If I win (the West regionals), great, but the No. 1 goal is to make it back to nationals.”